Located in the municipality of Manilva, the main areas of La Duquesa include Duquesa Port, Castillo de la Duquesa, San Luis de Sabinillas and Manilva village. The village of Manilva itself lies just a 7-minute drive inland and is where you’ll find most of the shops and services. Estepona, located a 15-minute drive up the coast, will be your closest big town.
In just over a half an hour drive northeast along the coast, you’ll reach the glitzy town of Marbella and just under an hour drive south to the British enclave of Gibraltar.
La Duquesa is a more laidback slice of the Costa del Sol and during the majority of the year it’s relatively quiet compared with its neighbours further up the coast. Life in La Duquesa revolves around the beaches and golf and it also offers a good array of bars and restaurants. If you’re trying to decide where to live in Andalucía, this beautiful port might be your ideal spot.
Living in La Duquesa: essential information
La Duquesa town centre
Who lives in La Duquesa?
According to Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE) There’s a total population of 29,068 in the whole municipality of what’s known as Manilva. This includes Castillo de la Duquesa, Manilva and San Luis de Sabinillas.
The latest available stats from the Instituto de Estadística y Cartografía de Andalucía in 2022, show that 21.7 of the population percent were under 20 years old, while 15.7 percent were over 65. Of these, 6,573 were foreign residents, with the majority being from the UK – 39.4 percent.
There are not many big public hospitals in and around La Duquesa, so you will have to travel to nearby towns if there’s an emergency or you need an operation for example. The nearest is Hospital de La Línea de La Concepción, just under half an hour drive down the coast near the border with Gibraltar or Hospital Costa del Sol, located north just past Marbella which takes just over half an hour. If you have private healthcare, you can be seen at several private health clinics and hospitals nearby. These include Hospital Vithas Xanit Estepona and Hospiten Estepona.
Moving to La Duquesa may mean searching for a new job or even having to change careers. This may be a challenge, but our handy guide to finding a job in Spain will help you out.
According to the Spanish Chamber of Commerce and local government, the majority of positions within the Manilva municipality are in the wholesale and retail trade, this is followed by jobs in construction, then those in the hospitality industry and real estate, and finally positions in administrative and auxiliary services.
Because the centres of Duquesa Port, Castillo de la Duquesa, San Luis de Sabinillas and Manilva village are fairly small, you will find there are a lot more jobs and a wider variety available located in nearby Marbella and Puerto Banus.
If you work remotely or are self-employed and work online, then your best option is to create a home office as the choices for cafes with reliable wi-fi that will let you stay and work, and even co-working spaces are few and far between. If you want to be able to work in an environment surrounded by others, there are better options located just up the coast in Estepona such as Tu Espacio and Estepona Co-working.
According to the Fair Internet Report, the municipality of Manilva has home internet speeds in the range of 53.51 - 192.43 Mbps and the most popular provider is Avatel & Wikiker Telecom.
There are no international schools in La Duquesa or Manilva, the nearest ones are in Estepona. These are the Colegio San José which teaches in English and Spanish and also offers the IB programme, and Queens British Grammar School following the English national curriculum.
There are also three more international schools located just south of La Duquesa near Sotogrande. These are Alma Forest School, which is a progressive primary and middle school with classes in English; Sotogrande International School, teaching kids from 3-18 including the IB programme; and Schellhammer International School following the British curriculum and taking kids ages 14-18.
La Duquesa is not very well served by public transport, so having your own car here would be best. There are local buses running throughout the local area, but if you need to get to one of the big centres such as Málaga or Marbella, connections are poor and you may have to take a bus to Estación La Línea on the border with Gibraltar first, before making your way north. Read our guide on driving in Spain to find out more.
You’ll also most likely be moving quite frequently between the three centres of Manilva, Castillo de la Duquesa and San Luis de Sabinillas fairly regularly, so it will help to have your own transport. Many of the properties here are also located in nearby urbanisations meaning that even getting to a bus stop from your house may prove challenging, depending on where you’re located.
The nearest international airports are in Málaga and Gibraltar, which both serve destinations across Europe. Málaga Airport is the fourth busiest in Spain and takes on 85 percent of the air traffic in Andalucía. easyJet, Ryanair, British Airways, Jet2, Iberia, TUI, BA Euroflyer and American Airlines all fly direct to Málaga, making it a big hub. While, easyJet, American Airlines, British Airways and Qatar Airways all fly direct to Gibraltar.
Things to do in La Duquesa
Watersports
La Duquesa Marina
Much of life here centres around the marina and the Puerto de la Duquesa, which is always filled with beautiful yachts and other types of boats. If you don’t know how to, then taking up sailing lessons could be a great hobby to learn here and join in with the local community. Other water-based activities in La Duquesa include jet-skiing and even diving.
Beaches
Play de la Duquesa
La Duquesa is all about beaches and there are a whopping eight kilometres of coastline along the municipality of Manilva. The main beaches near Castillo de la Duquesa are Playa de la Duquesa and Playa El Castillo, which both boast lots of amenities including kids’ play areas, volleyball nets, sun loungers and lots of chiringuitos (beach bars). Other stunning beaches in the area include La Chullera, Las Arenas, Playa de las Gaviotas, Playa de Sabinillas and Playa Ancha.
Golf
Other than the Mediterranean and its beaches, the main attractions in the area are its two fabulous golf courses. La Duquesa Golf & Country Club is one of the main attractions in the area, drawing people in from around the Costa del Sol. It’s a challenging 18-hole course, designed by Robert Trent Jones and is set on a hill overlooking the sea.
There’s also a second course nearby - Doña Julia Golf, which also has 18 holes and is set in a natural landscape surrounded by the stunning Casares Mountains. It was designed by internationally-famed designer Antonio Garcia Garrido.
Shopping and local markets
La Duquesa isn’t a big shopping destination but there’s more than enough nearby to keep your cupboards stocked up and places to browse on weekends. Castillo de la Duquesa itself just has one small supermarket, but the majority of larger ones such as Mercadona, Lidl and Carrefour Express can be found in Sabinillas.
San Luis de Sabinillas also hosts a Friday flea market along the seafront from around 9am until 2pm selling a range of fresh fruit and vegetables, handmade leather handbags, clothes and shoes.
For shopping on the weekend, Manilva holds its Mercadillo Los Domingos every Sunday, selling everything from antiques and furniture to bags, jewellery, cured meats and sweets.
Sports
As well as watersports and golf, there are lots of other types of sports you can take up in La Duquesa to keep yourself fit and healthy. In early 2023, Manilva opened its new Fairground with state-of-the-art facilities including two football fields, two basketball courts, tennis courts, skating zone, a climbing area and much more.
Expat clubs & activities
The Marina by night
Living in La Duquesa will be a lot easier if you make some friends and one of the best ways of doing that is to join in with expat clubs and activities. You’ll find that most expat organisations and events are held in nearby Estepona, rather than La Duquesa itself, but the area does have a thriving community of foreigners that hold more informal and local get-togethers.
Despite being called the American Club of Estepona, because it was started by Americans in the 1970s, this club is now mostly run by British residents and anyone can join. It’s open for socialising throughout the week and has a bar, pool table, dart board and library. They also have weekly activities including bridge evenings, sewing, line dancing, art classes and choir practice.
Or why not join Manilva Coffee & Chat , a popular facebook group mainly for foreign residents living in and around Manilva, which acts as a type of forum for people asking questions, looking for recommendations, posting events and call-outs for socialising and making new friends. The International Club of Estepona is a group open to all English speakers living in and around Estepona and Manilva, including La Duquesa. They meet in the nearby urbanisation of Bahia de Dorada and organise activities for expats such as coffee mornings, mahjong evenings, film nights, ladies golf and rambling.
The Royal British Legion Estepona branch meets on the first, third and fifth Tuesdays of the month and on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month. And finally, f you fancy yourself green-fingered or simply want to learn more about plants and flowers, why not join the Estepona Floral Arts Club? The group have been meeting for more than 24 years and all flower arranging classes and demonstrations are conducted in English.
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